Salton Sea State Recreation Area Campground California
Salton Sea State Recreation Area Overview
The Salton Sea State Recreation Area offers visitors the rare opportunity to camp along the shores of one of the world’s largest inland seas. It’s also one of the lowest spots on earth at -227 feet below sea level.
There are six campgrounds around the lake offering a total of 1,500 campsites. The 3 developed campground include Headquarters with 15 full hookup sites (1-15), New Camp (close to the Visitor Center) with 25 standard sites (26-50), and Mecca Beach Campground with 109 campsites (51-159) and some have hookups. You can reserve campsites October through May. Camping is first-come, first-served during the summer months (June – September).
These 3 developed camping areas have restrooms (flush toilets) and hot showers. The Park also has a boat launch, marina, visitor center, campfire center and hiking/biking trails. Most of the other campground/campsites offer primitive-beach camping with chemical toilets and piped water.
Lake Cahuilla Recreation Area County Park has a nice campground. It’s about 26 miles in the desert town of La Quinta.
Salton Sea State Recreation Area
The Salton Sea was formed when the mighty Colorado River busted through some canal gates in 1905 and flooded the Imperial Valley. The deluge went on for 18 months before the engineers were finally able to plug the hole. The result was an inland sea 45 miles long and 20 miles wide – equaling about 130 miles of shoreline.
Today the Salton Sea State Recreation Area covers 14 miles of the northeastern shore and has long been a popular site for campers, boaters and anglers. Varner Harbor within the SRA provides easy access to the sea for boating and water skiing. Other outdoor recreation includes canoeing, kayaking windsurfing, bird and wildlife viewing, hiking and biking. There’s also some pretty sweet photo ops around the sea.
Make a Reservation for Salton Sea State Recreation Area
Amenities
- Amphitheater
- BBQ Grills
- Boat Launch/Ramp
- Camp Store
- Campfire Center
- Campground Host
- Campsite Tables
- Cell Service - Good
- Drinking Water
- Dump Station
- Electrical Hookup
- Fire Pit
- Fire Rings
- Firewood Available
- Fish Cleaning Station
- Marina
- Overflow Parking
- Pets OK
- Picnic Tables
- Ranger Station
- Recycling Center
- Restrooms (Flush Toilets)
- RV Hookups
- Showers
- Trash Collection
- Visitor Center
- Wifi access
Activities
- Beach
- Biking
- Bird Watching
- Boating
- Boating (non motorized)
- Canoeing
- Fishing
- Hiking
- Historic Sites
- Jet Skiing
- Kayaking
- Lake
- Mountain Biking
- Museum
- Nature Trails
- OTV Trails/Riding
- Paddle boarding (SUP)
- Paddle Boating
- Photography
- Picnicking
- Playground
- Stargazing
- Swimming
- Visitor Center
- Wake Boarding
- Walking Trails
- Water Skiing
- Water Sports
- Wildlife Viewing
- Wind Surfing
North Shore, California 92254
760 393-3052
Lat / Long:
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Campsite Types
- ADA
- Full Hookup
- Primitive
- RV
- Tent
- Trailer
# of Campsites:
148 (developed)
# of RV Hookup Campsites:
25
Campsite Vehicle Size:
45
Season:
Year Round
Elevation:
-233
Salton Sea State Recreation Area Comments & Reviews
Visited Salton Sea State Recreation Area Campground lately? We'd love to hear about your adventure. Did you find us useful? Did we forget something? Anything our community should know before heading out to Salton Sea State Recreation Area?
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I didn’t find anything for Mecca Beach CG at the Salton Sea. CA state parks has recently changed their reservation maps, and it’s so bad you can’t tell where the sites are. They don’t even follow the road.
Hi Chris,
You’re right in that there isn’t a good campground map for Mecca Beach (or other campgrounds at Salton Sea SRA. We do have a general Salton Sea Recreation Area (Campground Map button). Also, we have each photo listed with the corresponding campground name (“Salton Sea Recreation Area Mecca Beach #110”).
The 3 developed campground include Headquarters with 15 full hookup sites (1-15), New Camp (close to the Visitor Center) with 25 standard sites (26-50), and Mecca Beach Campground with 109 campsites (51-159) and some have hookups.
Hope this helps some!